On hearing the news that another republic had been born in the Americas, the American poet Walt Whitman (1819-1892) wrote a poem in celebration:

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A Christmas Greeting" (From a Northern Star-Group to a Southern. 1889-90)

WELCOME, Brazilian brother--thy ample place is ready; A loving hand--a smile from the North--a sunny instant hail! (Let the future care for itself, where it reveals its troubles, impedimentas, Ours, ours, the present throe, the democratic aim, the acceptance and the faith;) To thee today our reaching arm, our turning neck--to thee from us the expectant eye, Thou cluster free! thou brilliant lustrous one! thou, learning well The true lesson of a nation's light in the sky, (More shining than the Cross, more than the Crown,) The height to be superb humanity.

Whitman, one of America’s most influential and innovative poets, was born to a working class family. His revolutionary collection of poems, Leaves of Grass was first published in 1855. In Brazil, one of his translators was Vinicius de Moraes.